About 15 years ago, David Ashworth, a systems engineer at
the Applied Physics
Laboratory, was walking through a park in Connecticut
when he encountered someone flying a kite. The kite was a
two-line sport model, which meant its owner could make it
turn and dip and perform various aerobatic maneuvers.
Ashworth thought, I'd like to try and make something like
that.

He found a book on building kites and assembled his
first, which he remembers was not all that good. "But over
time I learned," he says. Indeed. Last year, Ashworth won a
first prize in kite building at the annual convention of
the American Kitefliers Association, held in Ocean City,
Maryland. Sometimes he competes in what is known as
"ballet," in which he flies patterns in the sky to music.
He enjoys flying indoors, with special kites so lightweight
he can loft them by simply walking about.

Ashworth has had heavier kites, designed for high winds,
lift him from the ground. There is a subset of extreme
fliers who do that sort of thing on purpose, but, says the
62-year-old engineer, "that is a sport for people who are
young, not my age."— Dale Keiger